A huge thanks to the production team for sending me this over as I bring you my Dolphin Island Review.
After losing her parents, 14-year-old Annabel lives with her grandfather on an island paradise.
She’s surrounded by an extended family of loving but quirky neighbors and her best friend — a dolphin named Mitzy.
However, everything soon changes when her maternal grandparents arrive with a shifty lawyer to bring her back to New York.
It’s now up to Annabel and her friends to figure out how to save the day and prove that love conquers all.
Over here in the UK there is a television station named Channel 5, it plays your run of the mill classic ‘Hallmark’ style movies and every Christmas absolutely peppers us with some independent yet heartwarming Christmas films.
Dolphin Island certainly feels like a film destined for Channel 5 stardom.
What this custody battle family drama lacks in depth of plot and characters it makes up for with absolutely jaw-dropping visuals.
This wonderful escape to an island paradise keeps me watching from start to finish.
Dolphin Island is a film its cinematography breaks free from its independent shackles.
Annabel lives with her Grandfather played by none other than Peter Woodward (The Patriot, National Treasure, Unthinkable) and Peter carries this film as the only actor on screen who is able to channel realistic human emotion.
Everyone else seems very wooden and very 2 dimensional in their roles.
Many lines feel forced and cheesy and very ‘Made for TV’ in its format.
As the custody battle rages on a shady lawyer (played by Bob Bledsoe) tries to bribe and manipulate the plot to fit his own agenda.
I personally thought this character was terribly miscast.
Bob Bledsoe certainly fits the more comedic role as I was waiting for some funny one-liners to drop at any given moment but they never came.
He just didn’t fit this dodgy lawyer role and his character made the whole good guys vs bad guys angle obsolete.
Whilst I understand why the plot was steered the way it was, not once during the entire film does anyone ask Annabel what she wants.
Does she want to stay on the island with people who love her or does she want to go to New York where she doesn’t know anybody?
I’m sure if they just asked her within the first 5 minutes of the movie we’d have a really great looking short film on our hands, it’s obvious she wants to stay and there’s no conflict which makes the plot somewhat redundant.
Named Dolphin Island I was waiting for the dolphin to play a much bigger part in the story but the dolphin was a mere bystander only occasionally dropping by to perform a trick or two and pretend as though they’re understanding everything the humans are saying.
The edits of the dolphin however are superb and go with the dialogue wonderfully but for the dolphin to be painted as the girls best friend, we hardly see Mitzy the dolphin for longer than 10 minutes of screentime (if that).
With the title of the film being Dolphin Island, I was expecting the island to be inhabited by more than one dolphin that’s for sure.
I guess the others must have been camera shy.
What I will say is that from start to finish throughout Dolphin Island, I didn’t get bored.
The visuals were more than enough to keep me hooked even if I wasn’t fully invested in the characters and I was still hooked enough to find out what the resolution to the situation would be.
Dolphin Island is certainly what you expect from your run of the mill family movie, it certainly wouldn’t look out of place next to a Mary Kate and Ashley family flick or any more of those old 90’s Disney live action flicks.
It’s entertaining enough but the visuals take the quality of the movie up many notches.
If you want a nice tranquil escape from the real world then I highly recommend giving Dolphin Island a watch.
Dolphin Island was shot at the Grand Bahama island between hurricane Dorian and COVID.
The goal was to stimulate their devastated economy and highlight its beautiful sites and culture.
A portion of the profits goes to the local cast and crew in The Bahamas so please do check it out via the link below.
It won’t be the best movie you see this year but it will by no means be the worst and the cause is much deserving of your support.
Dolphin Island review by Sean Evans
You can watch Dolphin Island over at https://dolphinislandmovie.com/watch-now/
Our Rating
Summary
Dolphin Island certainly takes a while before it tugs on your heart strings but with breathtaking visuals and a narrative that seems to fly by it’s certainly worth checking out this family fun drama.
